NCAA Not Renewing License with EA Sports (Or Anyone Else)

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NCAA Not Renewing License with EA Sports (Or Anyone Else)

The NCAA has decided not to renew its license with EA Sports for the widely popular NCAA Football franchise thanks to the situation from the O'Bannon case (former NCAA athletes are suing EA and NCAA for using their likeness in the game, although their names are not used). The deal expires in 2014, and the NCAA will not renew with EA or sign a new deal with another developer/publisher.

As a big fan and an annual purchaser of this title, I'm very sad. At least EA Sports can continue making the game as it is, just without using the "NCAA" name and logo. I absolutely love their Ultimate Team mode, and wouldn't be surprised to see them utilize their license with the NFLPA to keep college alumni as a focal point of the rebranded franchise in the future.

EDIT : It has since been confirmed that there will be a "College Football 15" release in 2014. Basically the same game, new title.

The NCAA will not renew its licensing agreement with EA Sports for its 21-year-old NCAA Football series once the current deal expires in 2014, the NCAA said in a statement today. It does not mean the end of the series, only the end of a series with the NCAA's name and logo on it.
"The NCAA has made the decision not to enter a new contract for the license of its name and logo for the EA Sports NCAA Football video game. The current contract expires in June 2014, but our timing is based on the need to provide EA notice for future planning. As a result, the NCAA Football 2014 video game will be the last to include the NCAA’s name and logo," the organization said in a statement.
That applies to the NCAA's name and its logo. Most of the game's imagery is licensed through the Collegiate Licensing Company, an altogether separate entity that handles the licensing business for more than 200 colleges and universities, plus athletic conferences and bowl games. Assuming EA Sports still has that license, the series can proceed, just under a name without "NCAA" in it.
Two sources with direct knowledge of this matter have described the NCAA's decision as nearly a technicality, meaning the series will continue, albeit under different branding, with its major components intact. We've reached out to EA Sports for comment on what it intends to do.
We've also left a voice message with a CLC representative asking for clarification of that relationship. We'll continue to update as more is known.
"Given the current business climate and costs of litigation, we determined participating in this game is not in the best interests of the NCAA," the NCAA said in its statement. That is a reference to the Ed O'Bannon lawsuit, in which the former UCLA star and others are suing the NCAA, and EA Sports, over the use of their likenesses in commercial works. The suit seeks a class action status and, if granted, the exposure the NCAA faces could run into the billions, if not force it to change dramatically how it does business.
"Member colleges and universities license their own trademarks and other intellectual property for the video game," the NCAA said in its statement. "They will have to independently decide whether to continue those business arrangements in the future." That now appears to be an oblique reference to EA Sports maintaining the game through its CLC license. Again, the CLC is a private company, separate from the NCAA, owned by the mega sports and media management company IMG.
Of course, no players appear by their own name in the NCAA Football series, but the game's rosters have long been based on the current players for the upcoming season, just with their names erased. That has been one prong of the O'Bannon case, and is at the heart of two others brought by former college quarterbacks against EA Sports. Users have taken it upon themselves to rename the rosters, sharing them through a service provided by the game.

MY PLATINUM CARD ONLY ANIMATES IF YOU'RE USING FIREFOX, AS IT'S AN ANIMATED PNG FILE